I have once before been a member of this fine organization, and am thinking about joining again. I understand many people’s complaints that by the time you pay shipping, handling, stamps, etc., things are not so free any longer. But I have a different sort of question.
The way BMG makes money, as I have been told, is that they purchase the master recordings from the record label and reproduce the CDs, along with the original cover art and liner notes. My question is, is there ever any sort of quality loss, or sonic difference, in the recordings as the result of this reproduction? Am I getting a slightly different product, or are my worries unfounded? Other than the BMG logo on the back of the CD, is there any other difference between the BMG product and the retail version?
I sincerly doubt it. The other record companies probably follow the same mass manufacturing procedures that everyone else does, including BMG. I would imagine there is one generally accepted cheap way to mass replicate a CD, and everyone in the industry follows that.
Of course, that little BMG stamp could throw the rotational balance of the CD off a little bit…
I have been advised by people who are familiar with production in the “music club” industry to always get the CDs rather than the cassettes because the cassettes are inferior to those found in stores and rapidly lose sound quality and tend to break. I think if there is anyway possible to cut corners in the production of CDs, clubs like BMG are sure to take them. Fortunately for consumers, CDs are fairly durable and the average person can tell no discernable difference between a high and mid quality CD.
I have a fairly high-end stereo, and bought a several cds from BMG, one was to replace a cd that I thought I had lost. I later found the cd, and compared the sound on the two, they were, to my ear at least, identical.
